


At Fault

by SaraJaye



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Azula is only human, Family Bonding, Frustration, Gen, Redemption, not comics-compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-09 18:04:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10418034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: She'd known it would be like this on the outside, but she still doesn't like it.





	

Ty Lee and Zuko come to pick her up the day the doctor says she's well enough to go home. Ty Lee hugs her until she can barely breathe, but Zuko's a little standoffish. Not that she blames him, she was a bitch to him for years and tried to kill him more than once.

"But it wasn't your fault!" Ty Lee had said countless times during their visit, where Azula reluctantly discussed the therapy sessions. "You were just copying your dad, you were jealous because your mom didn't pay attention to you! And besides, you were just a kid!"

Mai and Zuko, on the other hand, would just tell her she still had no right to treat everyone like shit. And when Azula wanted to blame them, or her mother, or even Uncle Iroh, the therapist would offer a middle ground. _Just because they made some mistakes doesn't mean you had the right to attack them._

There's no fanfare when she comes home, not like when she and Zuko came back from conquering the Earth Kingdom. Uncle fuddy-duddy fixes tea for everyone and has the cooks bring a plate of Azula's favorite foods, which is the most he's ever done for her since...well, ever.

_He only cared about Zuzu, never about me._ She tries to push away the voice of the therapist telling her _maybe if you'd treated him with more respect, he might have thought better of you._ She was a child, it wasn't _her_ job to behave! Aren't parents and uncles supposed to love their children no matter what?

The public whispers about her, some of it concern for her "illness", some of it nasty remarks about how she should have _stayed_ locked up. _Like her father._ Azula twitches; years ago, remarks like that would have been welcome, but now it's all she can do not to start crying.

Someone always stands up for her, though. Ty Lee, Zuzu, the Avatar's girlfriend, even Uncle. She never knows how to react, torn between feeling smug and validated or feeling insulted that they treat her like a defenseless child.

_Hmph. It doesn't matter what they say, right? I'm still a princess._

Ty Lee keeps treating her like she's _all better now,_ like spending a year in the hospital erases how Azula tried to set her on fire or had her thrown in prison or any of the other mean things Ty Lee mostly brushed off. Mai and Zuzu hold her at arm's length, still pointing out at every turn all she did wrong, like she hasn't yet "earned" her right to forget.

It's Uncle who saves her one day when she's so sick of everyone's whispers and chattering that she almost relapses and tries to set them all on fire. Almost. Instead, she goes to have a drink and cool down. Like a _good girl._

Uncle's in the garden, sipping a cup of tea as usual. He greets her with a smile, and Azula realizes she's tolerating his presence more and more.

"Was this how it was for you after Ba Sing Se, uncle?"

Uncle puts down his cup and nods a little.

"I only remember bits and pieces, but it was something along those lines. Some felt pity for me, having lost my son, while others saw me a miserable failure who deserved to lose his birthright to your father," he says. "The words stung, the pity only made me sadder...I simply learned to tune them out." He smiles thinly. "Of course, I had my hands full protecting Zuko from his father, and..."

"And me." Azula sighs. "Sometimes I wish you'd loved me the same way you loved Zuzu, but..." She groans, remembering what the therapist said. She hates when other people are right. "I can sort of understand why you didn't. I wasn't very nice to you."

Uncle reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder.

"But it's not too late."

She spends the rest of the day in the garden with him. It's the first good day she's had since coming back home.


End file.
